PDEMDHC said:

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Wild story that I have kept close to my chest for a while. My wife and I have now transitioned from a retire from corporate life in 60s mindset to now doing it almost immediately. We "won the lottery" so to speak.

At 43, I'll be announcing my "retirement" sometime the next 30-60 days from my corporate job and will give a planned 3 month notice. In 2026, I'll start an LLC or trust and focus on investing via swing/day trading, RE, etc. with the "extra" money after our goal.

My wife will follow suit in about 3 years time based on a bonus payout schedule with her contract. She will also be 43 by then.

We had a VERY difficult five years… but now we get to see our three kids grow up (3 year old and twin newborns) and take care of my aging mom. I cannot wait to see what happens next.

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Strat said:

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PDEMDHC said:

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Told the boss today and went extremely well. Get to tell the higher ups tomorrow. Goal is to leave week prior to Christmas and go from there, so about 4 months all said and done.

Huge weight off my shoulders!

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Congrats! Just curious, did you tell your boss that you are "retiring" or did you sell it that you were leaving for personal reasons or leaving to take a sabbatical? At 43, I'm guessing "retiring" is going to generate some questions. I know the correct answer is who cares what other people think but that is easier said than done.

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Quinn said:

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I would think that telling people you are retiring early would be one of the best parts of doing so.

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Quinn said:

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I would think that telling people you are retiring early would be one of the best parts of doing so.

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FrioAg 00 said:

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Here is a theoretical question to throw out for the group on this topic of knowing when to retire…


If your own future costs of living were all locked in, meaning you fully funded them even under conservative assumptions about inflation and market returns, would you be willing to work an extra 5-10 years to benefit someone else? (Your kids, your church, other passions?)

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FrioAg 00 said:

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Here is a theoretical question to throw out for the group on this topic of knowing when to retire…


If your own future costs of living were all locked in, meaning you fully funded them even under conservative assumptions about inflation and market returns, would you be willing to work an extra 5-10 years to benefit someone else? (Your kids, your church, other passions?)

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DannyDuberstein said:

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It just burns a hole in some folks pockets. I have a neighborhood acquaintance who has been the COO and then CEO of a successful privately held company - in his 20ish combined years in these roles it grew from operating only in Dallas to over a dozen major cities, and we've had enough conversations over the years that I have a good idea of what he was making, which was healthy. That said, he and his wife have always spent money like crazy in the 20 years we've known them and make reckless financial decisions. Just in the past few days I learned about what's turned out to be a $150k screwup. He's 55 but nowhere near being able to retire which is crazy to me given I have a good idea of how solid his income stream was. Status has always been extremely important to them, and that has just soaked their finances from a ton of angles

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jja79 said:

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I spent a lot of years lending money for banks. Until the day I retired I was astounded at how many people with good incomes had less than expected and debt up to their eyeballs. People 50+ years old making $200K, $400K, $800K and they had less than $100K in current and retirement funds. Some had more than one $1K+ car payment. I had a dentist client that lived in Memorial that was more than 70 years old who owed more than $500K on a house he bought 50 years ago. He kept taking cash out to pay credit cards.

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jja79 said:

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I spent a lot of years lending money for banks. Until the day I retired I was astounded at how many people with good incomes had less than expected and debt up to their eyeballs. People 50+ years old making $200K, $400K, $800K and they had less than $100K in current and retirement funds. Some had more than one $1K+ car payment. I had a dentist client that lived in Memorial that was more than 70 years old who owed more than $500K on a house he bought 50 years ago. He kept taking cash out to pay credit cards.

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jja79 said:

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I spent a lot of years lending money for banks. Until the day I retired I was astounded at how many people with good incomes had less than expected and debt up to their eyeballs. People 50+ years old making $200K, $400K, $800K and they had less than $100K in current and retirement funds. Some had more than one $1K+ car payment. I had a dentist client that lived in Memorial that was more than 70 years old who owed more than $500K on a house he bought 50 years ago. He kept taking cash out to pay credit cards.

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jja79 said:

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I spent a lot of years lending money for banks. Until the day I retired I was astounded at how many people with good incomes had less than expected and debt up to their eyeballs. People 50+ years old making $200K, $400K, $800K and they had less than $100K in current and retirement funds. Some had more than one $1K+ car payment. I had a dentist client that lived in Memorial that was more than 70 years old who owed more than $500K on a house he bought 50 years ago. He kept taking cash out to pay credit cards.

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cgh1999 said:

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jja79 said:

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I spent a lot of years lending money for banks. Until the day I retired I was astounded at how many people with good incomes had less than expected and debt up to their eyeballs. People 50+ years old making $200K, $400K, $800K and they had less than $100K in current and retirement funds. Some had more than one $1K+ car payment. I had a dentist client that lived in Memorial that was more than 70 years old who owed more than $500K on a house he bought 50 years ago. He kept taking cash out to pay credit cards.

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Had a great one last week. Doctor with a $4MM house and $3.6MM mortgage. $3MM beach house with $2.8MM in debt and listed at $2.8 for the last 6 months. Less than $300k liquidity. Over $1MM in merchant cash advance loans in the 70% interest range.

Looks (and acts) rich, but is perilously close to bankruptcy.

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